Advertising-sign.



G. R. COLVIN.

ADVERTISING SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.19, 1910. RENEWED 001'. 2, 1912. 1,065,897.

Patented June 24, 1913.

wilicl qwH/neowo COLUIIIA MIA". C6 'A-lllm D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. COLVIN, OF SFOKANE, WASHINGTON.

ADVERTISING-SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 24, 1913.

Application filed February 19, 1910, Serial No.'544=,935. RenewedOctober 2, 1912. Serial No. 723,591.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE R. Co'LvrN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, county of Spokane,and State of Vashington, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Advertising-Signs, of which'the following is aspecification.

. This invention relates to improvements in advertising signs and moreespecially to that ors are employed.

My sign is also adaptable for use upon railway cars for indicating thedifferent stations as well as displaying advertisements of pictures orreading matter. A number of the complete devices may also advantageously be employed in a complete system by installing the units atdifferent parts of a city or in different locations, having each unitprovided with electrical connections to a central station, at whichlatter point all of the signs of the system are controlled, differentcircuits being employed for different locations and the separate unitsbeing rented to customers.

With these general objects in view and others that will appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, the improvement consistsin the novel combination and arrangement of parts herein fullydescribed,

illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specified in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of this application and in which likedesignating numerals represent corresponding parts throughout theseveral views: Figure l-is a plan view of the device. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical. section taken uponline 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig.

t is a vertical transverse section taken upon line 4-4 of Fig. 1, and,Fig. 5 is a detail view showing a means for attaching the letters to thesign.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the

rectangular sign body 1 will be noted as provided upon each of itslongitudinal faces with glass panels 2 which are positioned in anydesired manner but are preferably hinged or adapted to be slidablyremoved in order to provide -an easy a'ccess'to the interior of thesign. Positioned within the sign and running longitudinally thereofadjacent each glass face are the strips'3 of U- shape form as shown inFig. 5 andadapted to receive the rubber bases 4 of the letters 5,whereby said letters arearranged in any desired manner and aise aratestrip, 3 is employed for eachline-desired. ;Broadly speaking, saidrectangular g-sign, 1 is jp'ositioned between the upright standards-6and 6, which sign-isareyolvedf by the. motor 7 conventionally'showfn,-,. while saidsign is illuminated-from withinby-theincandescentlamp 8. The electrical Wiring-for said lamp is effected through theconduit or-pipe 9,

the conducting wireslO leading to'any suitable source of supply.

As a means'of support'for the sign, it will be noted that the standard6' is provided with the integral boss 11 through which and the standardextend a perf0ra tion 12 adaptedto receive the said pipe 9, which issecured thereinby the set screw 13, said .pipe thus affording a;substantial bearing for the end 14 ofthe sign, which may be providedwith the bushing 15. It is ob vious that any number of electric lamps 8maybe employed within the sign or an electricalfiashing apparatus may-beinstalled therein. The opposite end 16 of the sign is provided with astub shaft 17. which is keyed thereto by the key 18. Said shaft 17 isjournaled in the support 6 and the integral bosses 19 thereof, while theouter end of said shaft is squared to receive the operating star wheel20 secured thereon by the nut 21. Said star wheel however, maybeconstructed integral with the shaft 17 or the shaft 17 may be integralwith the end 16 of the frame 1, the material features of theconstruction however, being. that the star wheel 20, the stub shaft 17and the sign '1 move in unison and are supported and journaled, asdescribed, in the support 6. The boss 11 and the inner boss 19 contactthe opposite ends of the sign and accurately position the sign betweenthe standards 6 and 6.

The general operation of the motor device may be illustrated byreferring to Fig. 4c, in which the crank 22 upon the power shaft 23 ofthe motor has a terminal arm 2% adapted to assume the path of travelindicated by the arrow and at the extreme upper swing of the crank isadapted to engage one of the beveled or inclined end faces 25 of thestar wheel 20. The arms 26 of said star wheel 20 are positioned in theplanes of the diameters of the adjacent square end 16 of the sign bodyand are of suflicient length to be accurately positioned to be contactedby said arm 24 and to be thereby impelled forward substantiallyone-fourth of a complete revolution in the direction of travel indicatedby the arrow in the smaller circle. By this arrangement, the regularoperation of the motor revolves the advertising sign through an arc ofabout 90 upon each complete revolution of the power shaft 23 thereof.

The entire mechanism herein described and consisting of the motor andthe actuated illuminated advertising sign is pref erably mounted upon asuitable base 27, rendering the apparatus easily movable. It will benoted that any form of motor desired may be employed, such for instanceas an electric motor which will derive its power from the same source ofsupply as the incandescent lamp. However, as it is only necessary todisplay the separate sides of the sign for a predetermined time, theoperation or rotation of the sign, may if desired be manuallycontrolled. When electricity is employed as the motor and illuminatingmedium, a single switch may be employed for simultaneousl turning on themotor and the lights. To fiirther insure an accurate positioning of eachof the sides of the sign, that the same may be viewable to the observer,an auxiliary T-shaped stop 28 is employed, which is hinged to said baseby the members 19 positioned outside of the plane of the adjacent sideof the sign body when said side is positioned perpendicular to the base.This stop is connected to the base by a resilient member 30, such as acoil spring, at some point 31 beneath the sign body, the point ofattachment upon said stop being upon the vertical portion thereof and atan intermediate point 32 thereon substantially mid-way between thehorizontal portion of the stop and its point of connection with the baseand below the plane of the sign bottom when the sign is in its normalposition. This stop extends upwardly in a substantially perpendicularrelation with respect to the base and terminates in a cross-arm 33,which is of a length substantially equal to that of the sign, and isnormally positioned against one of the sides thereof and disposed inparallel relation to the longitudinal axis of the sign and normally inthe same, horizontal plane therewith when the sign assumes itsstationary position with the front face thereof vertical for perfectlyexhibiting the motto thereon.

Assuming the electrical connection to have been perfected, the operationof the device is believed to be evident, it being seen from the abovedescription that the projecting arm 24 of the continuously revolvingcrank 22 contacts an arm 26 of the star wheel and revolves the signbody, thereby bringing an adjacent panel thereof to view in a verticalposition; during such rotation, the stop 28 is spring-pressed againstthe side of the sign, so that the bar 33 thereof is at all times incontact with said sign and as the member 33 slides over a corner of thesign, which corner is propelled thereabove by means of the star wheel asaforesaid, said member 28 then performs an additional function of assisting the sign to assume an upright or vertical position or in otherwords, assists in a partial rotation of the sign. It will be noted thatthe bar 33 contacts only the frame-work of the sign and without touchingthe glass. The letters 5 may be provided with white faces to be viewedin the daytime, while at. night are seen in connection with the glasspanels, which are pre-ferably of different colors, which may be aregular rotation of red, white and blue, etc., and producing an artisticeffect by reason of the interiorly arranged light 8 and well adapted asan advertising and display device. It will of course be noted that toafford a perfect coaction between the motor crank and the star wheelcombined with the impulse of the stop 28, and by which the accuratesuccessive positioning of the mottoed sides are efiected, that a properrelative length of motor crank and star arm and a properly tensionedresilience of the stop are essential.

While the forms of my invention herewith shown and described are whatare believed to be preferable embodiments thereof, it is nevertheless tobe understood, that changes may be made in the size, form, proportionsand minor points of detail without thereby departing from the spirit andscope of my invention as set forth in the appended claim.

It is desired to note in connection with this invention and its mannerof use as hereinbefore fully described, that advantageous places for thepositioning of said advertising units have been found by experience tobe upon the tops of buildings, such as department stores, also in showwindowsof retail stores and the device is also applicable for displayingtheater announcements as Well as train and steamboat time tables. It isobvious that in installing these units, more than one advertiser may beaccommodated by the same unit and a yearly rental may be employed fordifferent faces of different units as may seem desirable. In furnishingthe units, it is also advisable to provide separate alphabets of typewith each of the same and these may be of different forms and color suchfor instance as a white glass-faced letter which shall be used against ared or green or blue faced panel. Also in the employment of my device,the lettering may be placed either upon the exterior or interior thereofand various means of reflecting the lights thereon may be employed.

To multiply the number of advertisements displayable, my sign may bemade in hexagonal or octagonal form and the units may be coupled up intandem if desired. It may also be noted that the rotation of the signbody may be in the reverse direction from that herein described in whichevent the resilient stop member acts solely as a stop for positioningthe readable portion of the sign in the most advantageous position forthe casual observance by the prospective purchaser.

Having thus fully described my invention and in what manner the same isdesigned for use. what I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

An advertising sign comprising a rotatable sign body, polygonal ends andglass sides set inwardly from the peripheries of said ends provided uponsaid body, a base member upon which said body is supported, a T-shapedstop member hinged to the base at a point exteriorly of the plane of thenormally vertically positioned adjacent side of the body and having ahorizontal portion thereof coextensive in length with said body and inconstant exterior contact with said ends thereof in the same horizontalplane with the longitudinal axis of the body and incapable of contactingthe glass sides thereof, a resilient member secured at one end to thestop at a point below the plane of the bottom of the body in its normalhorizontal position and the other end of said resilient member securedto the base at a point beneath said body.

I n testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE R. COLVIN.

\Vitnesses:

EDWIN C. TICHENOR, JENNIE M. OSBORNE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

